This invention relates to protective tubes for storing golf clubs in golf bags, and in particular to a protective tube the tops of which rises above the level of the heads of the golf clubs remaining in the bag when the tube is empty and returns to a position level with the tops of the remaining tubes in the bag when a club is stored in the tube.
Protector tubes for storing clubs in golf bags have been known and used for a considerable period of time. Such tubes protect the club shaft and grip and allow the club to be removed and returned to the bag easily and smoothly and without dragging the shafts and grips against one another. However, one disadvantage of the use of tubes for storing golf clubs is that when a club is removed from a bag, the opening of the tube often becomes obscured by movements of the heads of clubs in adjacent tubes. This results in frustration for a golfer wishing to return a club quickly and necessitates movement of club heads until the tube opening is located.
There have been suggestions for devices that elevate a chosen golf club from the remaining clubs in the bag as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,029,136 dated June 14, 1977 entitled "Selective Golf Club Dispenser" and U.S. Pat. No. 4,200,131 dated Apr. 29, 1980 entitled "Device for Carrying Golf Clubs".
U.S. Pat. No. 4,200,131 discloses a device consisting of a series of tubes for receiving golf clubs with a compression spring located at the bottom of each tube adapted to contact the end of the golf club shaft. At the top of each tube an overhanging surface is adapted to maintain a golf club in place. As the golf club is returned to the bag it is pressed down against the spring and and positioned under the overhang which then maintains the golf club in place. In order to remove the golf club, the head is depressed and rotated out of contact with the overhang thereby causing the club to move upwardly through the action of the spring. This device requires that the user press the club downwardly against the pressure of the spring and into engagement with the overhang in order to return the club to the bag. Moreover the device does not cause an empty tube to rise above the level of the clubs in the bag thus permitting the golfer to readily locate the tube from which the club was taken.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,029,136 discloses a device comprising a series of tubes which are upwardly biased by compression springs at the bottoms thereof. The device includes a separate latching means for each of the tubes to hold it in its downward position. Upon release of the latching means the tube containing the desired club will move upwardly under the action of the spring. In order to return the club to the bag it is necessary to press the golf club downwardly against the action of the spring and when the tube is returned to its depressed position, to operate the latching mechanism to thereby hold the tube and club in place. In this mechanism the resilient force on the spring is greater than the weight of the tube and club combined with the result that it is necessary to return the club and tube to its normal position by exerting downward pressure against them. This device has the disadvantage of requiring a latching mechanism which results in increased mechanical complexity and weight. Moreover, the tube will not return to its depressed position in the bag under the weight of the club but rather requires a downward force to be applied by the golfer against the club and tube and requires the operation of the latching mechanism once the tube is in its depressed position.